The sale of promotional products, also called advertising specialties, has traditionally been practiced as a broker-customer relationship where a commissioned broker presents, in-person, various product lines and decoration choices to a customer. For example, a customer may call a broker in regard to promoting their company at a client appreciation golf tournament. The broker presents the customer with various products, i.e., hats, shirts, mugs, etc., that can be decorated using selected decorative technologies, i.e., embroidery, silk-screening, etc. For example, the customer may select a green polo shirt with the intention that it be decorated with company logo, graphic, name or other text or symbol be in black embroidery above the shirt pocket. The broker then facilitates the coordination among the customer, product vendor, and decorators to supply the requested customized product by the time required by the customer.
Due to the large number of product manufacturers and decorators, the broker usually carries a selected product line from various manufacturers and utilizes a selected group of decorators to apply the necessary decoration to the product. The customer, therefore, is presented a limited group of products and options for decorating the product. Moreover, when choosing the product, the customer generally is looking at catalog images or samples that are blank—that is, undecorated or decorated with the design of another company. In these cases, the customer is left to imagine the appearance of the decorated product until after placing an order. Thus, typically, the customer usually does not see the final product until it arrives. Furthermore, until the product arrives, the customer must depend upon the broker to ensure the order is delivered on time and appears as was anticipated.
Thus, it would be desirable for a client to be able to select a product and a decoration at their convenience over a network, for example, the Internet, and to view the appearance of the final product.